This invention relates to flotation devices for augmenting the buoyancy of an individual and more particularly, to a water saddle which a rider can straddle in the water while maintaining a reasonably stable altitude.
There have been flotation devices for individuals to hold to improve their buoyancy in the water going back into pre-history to the use of a log in the water. More recently, there have been innumerable plastic toys which are inflated for children and others to play with in the water and which are deflated for storage. Ring-shaped life preservers which are of cork or plastic have been known for a long time. Many other examples of flotation devices are known.
Plastic flotation toys, either of expanded plastic material or inflatable, have come in many shaped and sizes, but most have been in the form of fanciful animals or other objects and most are not designed to promote any physical orientation or stability for a person in the water. Very small children are often equipped with inflatable rings which can be used to surround their torso or devices which are attached to their upper arms and which are intended to keep a child's head out of the water should he find himself or herself in water which is too deep.
Many kinds of life jackets have been designed which are fastened to the upper body with straps and which afford enough flotation to keep the wearer's head above water. These are, of course, emergency devices and are not designed for recreation or as aquatic exercise devices.
It has been found that there is an desire on the part of many individuals for a flotation device which requires no straps or other attachment means and which provides sufficient buoyancy to permit one to be stable and essentially vertically orientated in the water with at least head, shoulders and arms above the water. This device aids in playing games in the water in performing some aquatic exercises.